Odds and Ends in Jersey

In 1966, under the "Four Square", publishers "New English Library" put out a small paperback called the "Four Square Holiday Guide to the Channel Islands". It was compiled by the late Peter Haining, and reflects a pre-decimal and bygone Channel Islands, just as tourism was ramping up to its giddy heights in the 1970s. Here's a brief extract.

Odds and Ends in Jersey

"Jerseys"

The wool garment which is called a jersey was in fact created on the island of the same name. It was originally knitted by the womenfolk in home and cottages throughout Jersey - but its popularity soon spread far beyond the bounds of the island and men were called in to take up the needles and boost the rate of production.

By 1608, however, so many men and boys were busy knitting jerseys that the States became alarmed at the effect this might have on the work of the land, and they passed an ordinance forbidding any person over 15 from knitting during seed-time, at harvest and when the Vraic (a type of seaweed found only in the Channel Islands and used for fuel and manure) was due to be collected.

Despite this the industry continued to flourish and at one stage as many as 6,000 jerseys were being despatched to eager customers in France, England and Spain. The introduction of mechanization took away much of the work from the islanders, but jerseys are still being produced today on the island at a modern factory in St. Helier. Visitors buying jerseys can tell if the item is home produced by the "Genuine - Made in Jersey" label which is attached to every one before it leaves the factory.




Spooky Jersey

According to local gossip Witchcraft - White Witchcraft still flourishes in the more remote parts of Jersey. Islanders claim that there are still old men and women who can cast spells to cure minor illnesses which modern medical science has not been able to help. A typical spell that this writer was told concerns warts - the remedy for removing them is to bury a fig leaf in manure and as the leaf rots so will the warts disappear. There are also some unsavoury stories about the local magicians demanding money from farmers or their crops will be blighted but there is little proof of this.

Witchcraft has undoubtedly been practised on the island for many centuries, but it reached its height in the 16th and 17th centuries. St. Clement's Parish became particularly notorious in this respect, and the rock at Le Nez was the centre where the Sabbats were held. Still visible on the rock are two marks which look rather like hoof-marks. The area is lonely at the best of times and this may explain why so few of the witches were caught and punished.

Jean Mourant was one man who did not escape the law, however - he was executed in 1585, condemned by the Satanic merche du diable branded on his finger. A woman, Marie Ensouf, was hanged, strangled and burned in 1648 as punishment for selling her soul to the Devil. The proof which damned her was a black streak on her palate.

But not all the customs on Jersey are of such an unsavoury nature. For instance many of them are a guide to the future. It is said that if the new moon falls on a Saturday, bad weather will follow but if the weather changes at a new or full moon, the change will last for a fortnight.

Farming on the island abounds with superstitions and gossip has it that green crops do better if sown with a waxing moon while root crops should be planted when the moon is on the wane. Transplanting parsley is believed to bring bad luck, while death will result to anyone looking at the cattle at midnight on Christmas Eve. At that moment, says the superstition, the cattle kneel to adore Christ and to witness this brings a fatal result. A tap on the window at night or a picture falling from the wall are also held on the island to foretell a death in the house.

Today these superstitions may seem foolish and out of place in modern society - but in the farms and villages the people know differently!